This invention on relates generally to airborne imaging systems and more particularly to infrared camera tracking of vehicles and individuals from surveillance aircraft.
The use of cameras in aircraft for aerial mapping has been widely used in the latter half of the 20th century for not only aerial mapping but also forest management, agricultural surveys, weather, and surveillance as exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 4,114,839 issued to Sibley. This patent illustrates a camera extension structure for aircraft having conventional rear opening ramps which open and extends the camera horizontally into the slipstream to rear of the aircraft.
There have been various other methods of supporting and extending various types of cameras in aircraft, such as U.S. Pat. No. 5,894,323 to Kain, which mounts a camera platform in the place of a baggage door on the side of an aircraft which can be quickly removed for a non-photo mission.
US. Pat. No. 3,917,199 to Dewitt teaches a detachable pod which removably attaches to the bottom of the fuselage and contains a plurality of aerial photography cameras the operation of which are controlled from the inside of the aircraft. This detachable pod is also removable for other uses of the aircraft.
The present invention is a support and extension structure for an infrared camera generally referred to as a FLIR which is modular and quickly removable from the aircraft. The FLIR, its support and extension structure is mounted and supported on the aircraft seat tracks over an opening in the floor of the fuselage and a sliding door in the cargo pod located under the fuselage. The FLIR extension structure comprises a box structure containing a plurality of vertically positioned tails which in turn support a tracking plate having linear bearings around its periphery for sliding up and down the rails which in turn supports the FLIR camera rotatably mounted on the bottom thereof about a vertical axis. The tracking plate can extend from its retracted position with the FLIR camera fully within the aircraft to an extended position with the FLIR camera extending into the slipstream. The tracking plate is actuated by two pairs of sprockets connected by drive chains which are mounted to the box structure and the drive chains are connected to the tracking plate for moving the tracking plate and FLIR camera. The sprockets are driven by a motor through a drive shaft which lowers the tracking plate against a box frame structure attached to the skin of the aircraft which stops the tracking plate and retains the camera in a precise aligned position. When the FLIR camera is fully retracted, the aircraft has a conventional appearance as a normal cargo-carrying aircraft.
The principal object of the present invention is to provide a support and extension structure for a FOR camera which extends through a sliding door in a conventional cargo pod.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a support and extension structure for a FLIR camera which is not visible from the exterior of the aircraft in its retracted position.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a modular and readily removable FLIR camera support and extension structure from an aircraft.
Other objectives and advantages of the invention will become more apparent after referring to the Mowing specifications and attached drawings.